Unified messaging systems commonly include an integration of various communications technologies such as email, voice mail, fax, and the like into a single service. Voice mails are typically received in a recipient's inbox as audio file attachments to an email. However, the nature of an audio file attachment is such that a recipient receiving a voice mail cannot simply determine the contents of the voice mail by viewing the audio file. Neither can a recipient identify which voice mail attachments are more important than others.
Speech-to-text software can be utilized to convert voice mail audio files into text files that can be visually read by a recipient. By processing an audio file through a speech-to-text module, a textual representation, such as a body of an email, or a file can be created that may be viewed by a recipient on a computer screen, a personal data assistant (PDA) screen, and the like. However, to be effective, speech-to-text software must address very complex variations in the audio file in order to determine the correct word that matches a vocal utterance. Due to variations in the voice utilized by a sender, speech-to-text transcription does not always result in accurate results. Furthermore, words or acronyms that may be commonly spoken in a group of people or a profession may not be recognized by the speech-to-text module. Thus, a text file of a voice mail audio file may contain unintelligible sentences or characters that cause the text file to be difficult to read and frustrate the benefits of a unified messaging system.